BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
GOVERNOR David Umahi of Ebonyi State has ordered the arrest and trial of the Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Silas Joseph Onu, over a press statement he issued on the killings in Effium community at the weekend.
Umahi, who described the statement as fake, spoke at Effium, during his visit to interface with the victims of the clash between the members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Effium Motor Park on Friday.
Umahi said, “It is not political; we use politics to destroy our people. Sometimes, you ignite this crisis by the stroke of your pen. The one that calls himself Silas Onu, I will task SSS. Wherever he is, he must be arrested and tried. I will task the SSS director to do that. He stays in Abuja, so he will report the matter to Abuja.
“Let me say that one of the reasons we have given the youths our rights is for our selfish interest. Nobody needs to tell me that these two gladiators are the problem of this place.”
“Sometimes it is 2023 plus 2027. These are the issues and it is a shame what is going on,” the governor lamented.
But reacting to Umahi’s directive, the PDP spokesperson said as a free citizen of the state, he could not be intimidated or silenced by anybody.
He insisted that his statement on the killings that took place in Effium was factual, as many lives and properties were lost in the community crisis.
He said, “My attention has been drawn to the fact that Governor David Nweze Umahi has just ordered the Police and DSS to arrest me in connection with the Ezza/Effuim crisis.
“It is laughable that the Governor will stoop so low as to connect me with a crisis that his appointees are directly and openly responsible for. This has got to be the most desperate move to silence opposition.”
The PDP spokesperson added, “During the Christmas holiday, I got a credible tip that my life was in danger as some group of gang members were directed to ‘silence’ me. I had to take extra precautions to remain alive.
“Now, it is in response to my press release, wherein I stated the fact that the Governor’s appointees were arrested in connection with their open involvement in the crisis rocking Ezza and Effium communities that he, in a meeting this afternoon, has ordered my arrest.
“Let the whole world know that I reside in Abuja and have no interest in whatever led to the crisis in Ezza and Effium. What interested me more was the failure of protection of lives and properties by the Government.
“I am a free citizen with my constitutional rights intact and cannot be intimidated into silence. I will continue to discharge my responsibility as the spokesperson of the opposition in Ebonyi State.
“Should anything happen to me, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State should be held responsible.”
“I have filed a fundamental right action already. That is the protection that our constitution bequeaths upon us,” he said.
